1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a mounting structure of a door basket which can be mounted to a rear surface of a door of a refrigerator to move from side to side along the rear surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 1a and 1b show a mounting structure of a door basket according to a prior art. Referring to the figures, a door 10, which selectively opens and closes a storage space (not shown) of a refrigerator, comprises an external appearance plate 11 defining external appearances of front, side, upper, and lower surfaces of the door and a door liner 13 defining an external appearance of a rear surface of the door. An insulating layer 14 is formed between the external appearance plate 11 and the door liner 13. The insulating layer 14 is formed from foamed polyurethane.
A pair of forward protruding projections 15 are formed vertically at both side ends of an outer surface of the door liner 13 corresponding to the rear surface of the door 10. In addition, a plurality of slots 17 are formed from side to side between the projections 15. Each of the slots 17 is formed by recessing a portion of the door liner 13. Further, a pair of the slots 17 are provided at upper and lower portions on the outer surface of the door liner 13, respectively. Since an inlet 17a of each slot 17 is formed to be relatively narrower than an interior 17b thereof, mounting projections 23, which will be described bellow, are inserted into the slots 17, and then, are not detached to the outside.
A door basket 20, which is mounted onto the outer surface of the door liner 13 and in which a storage space 21 is formed, is formed from side to side. A length from side to side of the door basket 20 is formed to be shorter than an interval between the projections 15. A rear surface of the door basket 20 is provided with a plurality of the mounting projections 23 and 23′ which cause the door basket 20 to be mounted to the door liner 13.
A pair of the mounting projections 23 and 23′ protrude rearward from and are provided at upper and lower portions on the rear surface of the door basket 20 in two rows. Preferably, two pairs of the mounting projections 23 and 23′ are provided at the upper and lower portions of the rear surface of the door basket 20, so that there are provided at least four mounting projections. The upper mounting projection 23 is press fitted into the inlet 17a of the upper slot 17, while the lower mounting projections 23′ is brought into contact with a ceiling in the lower slot 17 to serve to support load of the door basket 20. The door basket 20 including the mounting projection 23 or the mounting projection 23 may be formed of material having predetermined elasticity.
However, the mounting structure of the door basket for the refrigerator according to the above prior art has the following problems.
That is, in a manufacturing process of the door 10, a space between the external appearance plate 11 and the door liner 13 is filled with foam liquid. Here, due to a pressure of the foam liquid, a shape of the slot 17 is deformed, as shown in FIG. 2.
If the slot 17 is deformed as above, it is not easy for the mounting projection 23 to be inserted into the slot 17. Furthermore, with the mounting projection 23 being inserted into the slot 17, the door basket 20 cannot slide from side to side, causing the articles to be defective.
In order to solve the above problems, the thickness of the door liner 13 can be increased above the value capable of resisting the pressure generated from the foam liquid. However, if the thickness of the door liner 13 increases, the production costs thereof also increase. Furthermore, since there is a limit in increasing the thickness of the door liner 13, the increase of the thickness of the door liner is not effective in preventing the slot 17 from being deformed.